Bleeding Horizons
by Nirvana'sDemise
Summary: All Viro had ever wanted was to find a place to settle down and start his life. Years of travelling, and no place was good enough. Friends made along the way were lost, but it seems that his enemies stuck around. Behind every cloud, however, there's always a silver lining.


**Hey everyone! Welcome to Bleeding Horizons! This is my first fic on this account, however, it is far from my first rodeo. I do hope you'll all enjoy, and please, leave a review! **

* * *

How long had it been? Three years, maybe four? He couldn't quite remember, especially on his empty stomach. Yet, that feeling was all too familiar to him by now. Years of looking for just the right place, the right piece of land, all so he could finally start making his own place, his own ranch. He pictured it so perfectly every day. A wonderful enclave within a deep forest, with a large pond and a trail of mountains not too far either. It had to be perfect, it had to be.

Running his hands through his tousled black hair, Viro let out a sigh. He had to get his priorities in line. He couldn't live forever on street performances and shady jobs that he regretted ever taking. But for the time being, he had something much more important to take care of. The matter of his stomach groaning like a Wailord. The people he passed by looked at him strange as his own body audibly berated him for depriving it.

Opening his bag, he swung it around in front of him to look at the contents. He had enough for a few different dishes. He could make some berry smoothies, he could eat the dry pasta that had been crushed and decorated the bottom of his pack, or he could hold off and instead make some poffins for his pokemon. Suddenly a thought came to him, reminding him of that quaint pokemon-friendly cafe he had been frequenting.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, he felt for the loose bills and coins that rattled about. "I suppose I have enough for today...should see if they are hiring at this rate…" Viro's solemn voice was low as he muttered to himself. His right hand fell to his side as his fingers ran over the distinctly engraved and designed balls on his belt. "Eggsy will be too focused on me, Cobalt is too big, Solace…" Shuddering at the memory of the Hatterene reacting very aggressively to a rowdy customer in the cafe, Viro checked himself. "Dandy would probably be the best course of action." Grabbing the dark green ball, he tossed it upwards with a flamboyant flair. As a large, bipedal reptilian pokemon emerged, Viro gave the Sceptile a slight smile.

"You ready to get something to eat, Dandy?" As the Sceptile gave a coo in response, Viro proceeded to begin walking in the direction of the cafe, Dandy following close behind. Finally finding the small business within the bustling Yoridal City, Viro sat himself beside Dandy as he picked up the menu provided at the tables and began to read them to his companion.

Before long, a blonde-haired girl came up to his table. "My, isn't this your-"

"My third or fourth time this week?" Viro cut her off with a slight wave of his hand and a heart-wrenching smile. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

Giving a smile back, she continued on. "Well, as you know, my name is Rosaline, I will be your server today." Before she continued on her usual spiel, she tried to start some banter. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you've been coming for a certain someone~" She spoke with a slight sing-song tone.

Laughing slightly, Viro looked away. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." Technically, he had been. The chef, who could cook Galarian curry better than any person he'd ever met. Unbeknownst to his wandering eyes, Rosaline had gained a slight blush on her cheeks. As she cleared her throat, Viro looked back to her. "Right, well, I think I'll just go for the normal sweet apple curry. Dandy, what would you like?" The Sceptile to his right let out a strange cry, but Viro seemed to understand.

"Wait, his name is Dandy?" Rosaline looked slightly stumped at cutesy name for the menacing pokemon.

Chuckling to himself, Viro shook his head. "His full name is 'Sir Dapper Dandelion the Third', but as you can guess, Dandy is much easier on the tongue." Drumming his fingers against the table, he continued. "He would also like the same, if you don't mind."

After writing down the order on her notepad, she brought it to the chef's window and spun it around to him. Immediately, the sound of knives slamming through apples could be heard. Before long, she returned to Viro's table. "So, tell me a little about yourself. Who is Viro…?"

"Ghallenas." Waiting for a minute, his eyes refused to meet hers as he seemed to look anywhere else, his fingers picking up their pace on drumming against the table, and his leg bouncing rapidly. "Won't the other tables get upset, don't they need to be helped?"

Rosaline waved her hand at the increasingly anxious man. "Ah, someone else will go help them, don't worry. I'm all yours!"

_Great, that sounds terrific._ Sarcastically thinking to himself, Viro took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Unplanned social interactions were not his forte, but they were to be expected in such a big city such as Yoridal. "Well, I'm a pokemon breeder…"

"A breeder? So you like watching pokemon….you know.." Rosaline awkwardly mashed her hands together while wincing at Viro.

Viro audibly groaned. "Why does everyone always think that? I normally just get a meal while they do their thing. At least, that's what I did when I used to work on other ranches."

"Say, if you're a breeder, how do you have such big and strong pokemon, like Sir Dandy here?" Dandy gave a flattered coo at the girl's words, a smile stretching from his mouth.

Viro patted Dandy's shoulder as his eyes kept darting towards the chef window, waiting desperately for his meal to pop up. _Only a few sentences in and I already want to just leave…_ Giving a half-smile to hide his inner turmoil, he looked to the blonde girl. "You don't need to be a trainer to have some strong "team", I raised them all with love and friendship, that's how they got to be so amazing." Flashing a genuine smile at Dandy, he rubbed the top of the pokemon's head.

Finally, the curry he had ordered popped up in the serving window. _Thank Arceus._ Rosaline quickly got up and brought the food to his table before finally beginning to help the other occupied tables. Viro helped to set up a napkin around Dandy's neck in the case of spills, and let his partner fill his stomach as he did the same.

_I've really gotta find somewhere else to eat, I can't eat here every day…_ In fact, when he thought about it, he realized that he hadn't eaten anything else but the same thing he was having now. Sighing to himself, Viro began to inhale his food faster than what was probably healthy. He didn't care though. Just like he could care less for the watching eyes that stared at the rugged man and his large pokemon eating like their curry was their last meal.

As they finally finished their food, Rosaline was back at just the right moment. "I'll take those plates for you, boys!" Grabbing their empty dishes, she brought them to the kitchen for cleaning. After leaving the payment and her tip on the table, Viro and Dandy prepared to leave. However, before Viro could get outside, the blonde stopped him. "Hey, Viro...I had something I wanted to ask you…"

_Did I not tip enough? I suck at math sometimes…_ Viro slowly nodded. "Yeah..?"

"Would you, maybe, want to go out some time?"

Viro visibly grimaced. _Why did she have to ask that….Jeez, now I have to break her heart…_ Taking a deep breath, Viro awkwardly placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'm gay, actually. Sorry…" Nodding slowly, Viro turned around and walked out of the cafe, unsure of what to do next. _Can't go back there ever again…_ Dandy lightly nudged his trainer deep in thought, wondering where their next destination was.

"I think it would be best if we head out of the city and camp out for a bit. You know, let everyone get some free time out?" Viro gave a smile at the light-hearted cry Dandy let out. "Right then, let's get you in your ball for the time being." Turning his nose away, Dandy looked away from his trainer. "Come on, it's for your safety. You never know the sort of people that want to try some fucked things." Pulling the dark green ball from his belt, he held it out for Dandy, which reluctantly nudged his head against the central button. The ball quickly grew and beamed in the Sceptile.

As Viro walked down the sidewalk of the city, he took in how massive it had become since he had last been there. A couple years away from his home region, yet it had felt like decades. Times change, and it seemed that the city made sure to change with them. Looking away from the sky, he brought his attention back to where he was walking as he had to narrowly avoid walking into someone else.

His attention was suddenly caught by a young duo performing on the sidewalk, probably in their late teens at best. They seemed to be a brother and sister, with an ensemble of pokemon building their performance. An Altaria perched behind them singing a melodic tune, a Hitmontop situated by the brother, and a Spinda beside the sister. It seemed fairly dysfunctional, but Viro still had to applaud the attempt. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out what change he could spare before grabbing some berries from his bag, noting which berries were favoured by their pokemon.

Placing the offering in their small hat on the ground, he gave them a slight thumbs up. "Keep up the good work, kids." Man, how old had he become that he started calling people younger than him 'Kid'? He was only 22, had he earned that right? It was too late to take it back, and he didn't have the energy to correct himself to the kids. _No, not kids. _Children. _Not that either. _Young adults. _That's it, we're done with this._ Finding where the exit of the city was, he made haste for it. The sooner he could get away from large amounts of people, the better.

As he began to walk through the meadow that surrounded Yoridal City to the east, he began to wonder. Was he being too picky? Would he ever find the right place to start his ranch at this rate? He could always settle for a different place...but then it just wouldn't feel right. Hitting his palm against his temple, he berated himself for having such exact standards. He could eat just about anything no matter how old, he could get along with practically any pokemon, but settle for a plot of land that wasn't what he had always dreamed? That's the definition of impossible right there.

Groaning with self annoyance, he finally caught site of a camping site set-up sign. He had become all too familiar with these as they began popping up on most regions. They normally had a tent or two, and a grill with a spare cauldron. Nothing big, but he was situated away from the main route, so he was at least somewhat safe. He felt more safety in the comfort of his pokemon though, so it was a two-in-one for him.

Grabbing the red card on the sign, he placed it in the slot to signify that it was occupied and began to walk down the path to the site. However, he very quickly became aware that he was not the only one on the path. Walking not too far ahead of him was a young teenager. "H-hey! You forgot to put the red card in the sign!" The teenager, a boy as he saw now, snapped their head around at an inhuman speed. _What the fuck…_ Suddenly the boy began to sprint towards him. Before he could think to get away, the teenager was in front of him. "You….you forgot to put the red card in the site sign…"

"I was here first! You can beat it or you're going to have to battle me for it!" The red-haired boy yelled in Viro's face despite the fact that the two were right beside each other.

Looking around with wide eyes, Viro slowly nodded. "Yeah, I know you were. Just remember to put the red card in the next sign. I'm fine with looking for somewhere else." Scrunching his face up, Viro began to think to himself as he walked away. _Jeez, these new trainers are getting rude…_

"Hold on!" Again, yelling. Why was he yelling? "My name is Leo, and I'm going to be the next champion of Weril!" Grabbing a ball from his belt, Leo called out his pokemon. "So, I'll tell you what. If you beat me in a battle, I'll let you have the site! If you're on this route you must be starting out just like me, right?"

Viro motioned to his belt. "You do see that I have eight balls on my belt, right? Leo, was it?" He lightly waved his hand. "I can find another place. Trust me, you really don't want to do this." Viro was never one to participate in battles, yet, he was always dragged into them because people refused to take no for an answer. And just like a broken record, it seemed Leo was the same way.

"I'm not going to accept that, we're going to have a battle right here, right now! Professor Locust trusted me with a really rare pokemon, there's no way I'll lose!" Leo pointed to the bipedal, orange lizard in front of him.

_A Charmander..? Wow, what a rare pokemon. _Viro visibly rolled his eyes as he reached for the dull, granite textured ball on his belt. "I hate to do this to you, but I tried to warn you…" Throwing out the ball, he quickly clenched and reopened his left hand, causing the ball to return to the device in his left glove. "Come on, Cobalt, let's get this over with." Emerging from the ball, a massive, dark-blue Steelix towered over everyone else around.

The ginger looked distressed in every way possible, but shakily commanded his pokemon. "Okay, Charmander, scratch that Steelix!" The reptilian pokemon refused to move, frozen in fear.

"Ah, jeez….Cobalt, use Earth Power." The massive Steelix began to levitate as he glowed a bright gold, each of his segments in his body beginning to spin. Suddenly, the glow slammed into the ground before beaming upwards from under the Charmander. It immediately fell unconscious, and Leo fell to his knees. Walking towards the boy and his pokemon, Viro ran his hand along Cobalt, petting him and earning a pleased cry.

Reaching into his bag, Viro pulled out a small yellow object. Picking up Charmander tenderly, he crushed the object into powder in his hands and funnelled it into the pokemon's mouth. Slowly, it opened its eyes and looked to Leo with a light cry. "Listen, Leo. Battling isn't the only thing you should worry about, in case you didn't know. Give your pokemon plenty of love. And one day, maybe they'll grow up to be big and strong like Cobalt here." Giving a smile to Leo, Cobalt nuzzled his gigantic head into Viro, very obviously pushing him over with his affection.

"However, a deal is still a deal. I'll be taking this camping site, if you don't mind. There's probably another site not too far from here." Handing the young boy a small purple spray can, Viro began to walk down the path yet again with Cobalt's dark-blue body trailing behind, levitating above the ground. _Was that rude? I gave him advice, and a potion, surely that softened the blow, right?_ Shrugging to himself, he smiled as he arrived at the site. It was finally time for him to let all of his pokemon relax after a long day of being in their balls, aside from Dandy and Cobalt now. "Cobalt, can you do me a favor and make a little pool for Abyss?" Cobalt obliged by quickly digging into the ground and forming a large crater. Grabbing the light-blue ball on his belt, he tossed it towards crater. Emerging from it, a strange crimson-coloured Kingdra found itself lying in the pit.

"You'll wanna go on and fill that up, Abyss." Nodding, Abyss began to spout out massive amounts of water to quickly fill the pit. "Now that that's out of the way…come on out, everyone!" With one swift movement, Viro tossed out all of the balls from his belt. And out came his wonderful family, as he acknowledged them. Eggsy, his lovable Blissey. She loved to act as a mother for everyone else that Viro had around, and Viro himself. Trio, his tough Hydreigon. Trio had been quite the troublemaker at first, but overtime, Viro had managed to open the doors to his heart and reveal the softie inside. Abyss was one of his first pokemon, and she had been abandoned by her trainer. She wasn't like most Horsea when Viro had found her, not being the light blue or lavendar colour that some were, but that only made Viro love her more.

Then there had been Tundra, his Frosmoth. She was his newest addition to the family, but she fit in very quickly. Having raised her from a little Snom, he had fed her all the food she demanded, and boy had she demanded a lot. Ribbon, the lovely Sylveon currently playing with Tundra, was a great help in gathering food and berries for Tundra. And that left….Solace. Solace was testy, to say the least. You had to be very careful with her, however, there was one thing for sure. She had taken the longest to get used to his strong love he gave all of his pokemon. But by now, she had accepted it, and no longer proceeded to assault Viro when he praised her for doing a great job, or when he was extremely happy that he made his family a good meal.

Speaking of which, he had to get to work on their meal. Just because he and Dandy had eaten didn't mean he wasn't going to feed the rest of them. Walking to the grill and cauldron, he looked around until he caught sight of Trio. "Trio, could you come here for a moment." The Hydreigon quickly flew to Viro's position. "I just need you to light this campfire, if you don't mind?" Nodding, Trio let out a small, but powerful, torrent of flames on the worn wood.

8 portions. He had to make 8 portions. Dandy may have already eaten, but he always had an appetite. Doing a mental count of his family, he was relieved to make sure none had wandered off. That number had always caught others off guard, but he was used to that by now. The six per "team", as trainers so _lovingly_ referred to their pokemon, rule was only for official league trainers, and primarily for, well, trainers so they could bond with their pokemon equally. Sure, some breeders pursued a career in being a trainer as well, but he wasn't one of those.

He had wanted to be a trainer when he was young, admittedly. But, after a few years away from home, primarily travelling and connecting to nature and the pokemon within it, he realised that being a trainer wasn't for him. Part of him became a breeder to be like his parents, but a larger part of him did it so he could further connect to the pokemon around. Trainers could preach about it being unfair all they wanted, but Viro never took part in pokemon battles unless absolutely necessary or if, like Leo, the trainers refused to take no for an answer. In cases like that, they were asking for a fight and he couldn't find a way to get them to go away.

Pulling his bag aside, he began to toss ingredients into the cauldron, and began to make a family recipe for his companions. Ever so slightly, a smile began to creep across his olive-toned skin as his deep chartreuse eyes looked over each of them with love and care before turning back to the cauldron.

After finishing the cooking and handing out of the meals, as well as making sure everyone was content with their helpings, Viro dragged the sleeping bag from inside the tent, laying it gently on the ground. He preferred to sleep outside with his family, and they normally preferred sleeping by him. He had remembered vividly when Cobalt demolished the tent he was sleeping in back in a camping site in Hoenn, all to be closer to him. From then on, he figured it was best to sleep outside, and he had become quite fond of it.

Changing into his silky red pajamas he kept in his bag, he placed his normal clothes on the ground. He didn't care to fold them, rather, he haphazardly tossed them down. He knew what was there. A short-sleeved button up shirt with embroidered designs of his pokemon on the back, slim-fitting black jeans, those same black running shoes he'd been rocking for a year or two now. And finally, his black and red leather jacket.

_Ah, right._ Reaching into the inner pocket of jacket, he pulled out two more balls. Placing them in front of where his face would be, he lightly slipped into the sleeping bag as all of his pokemon began to lay down around him, forming a protective ring. As he listened to the silence of the night, he looked intensely at the balls. One made of a deep green gemstone, the other of a mix of mulberry and crimson gems.

_Don't you worry, you two. I'll find you a place soon enough where you can be free at all times. Somewhere safe, for all of us. _

Pulling his arm from the sleeping bag, he moved his jacket to cover the top of both of the balls, leaving just enough space to where he could see them. "Good night, everyone!" After they all gave their sleepy responses, Viro slumped further into the bag, his eyes closing lightly. "Love you all…"

* * *

Eyes matching steel in both colour and their intense gaze found themselves fixed on the camera in front.

_Three_.

Brushing his thick brown waves out of his face, he clapped his hands together twice to amp himself up.

_Two. _

Taking one last deep breath, a smile set in on his pale face.

_Showtime._

"Cameras are a-go, people!"

Turning to the side camera with dramatic flair, the man flashed a heart-wrenching smile. "Hello, Weril. I am the chairman of the Healthy Tomorrow's Organization, although many of you may know me by a more personal name, Ronaldo Thunt." Tilting his head as if tipping a hat, he continued. "For years, I have been working with the most trained specialists I could find to create cures for both humans and pokemon alike for any disease that ails them."

_Doing good, hook 'em in, keep 'em entertained._

"Our region is a gemstone. In terms of industrialization, we come in second, only after Hoenn. However, with such a close connection to nature and the pokemon that surround us, there comes some potential problems." Motioning to a green screen that he knew would be displaying a chart right now, he kept up his smile. He was told it was his third most desirable feature, he preferred not to think of the other two. "New diseases are becoming more and more common, as well as beginning to infect other species. Whereas a certain disease previously only affected pokemon, it can now affect humans and animals too!"

Turning to face the center camera, he held a straight posture as he carried on. "But that worry is a thing of the past, for we here at Healthy Tomorrow's ha-"

"Ronaldo, we need you to come quick!" A shrill voice interrupted the suave man, causing cameras to come to a stop.

The groaning of camera operators and the director of the commercial quickly let the young man who had barged in know he had made a mistake. However, their groans were nothing compared to the Ronaldo's towering figure over him. "Th-there's been an accident."

"And it couldn't have waited a few more minutes?" Ronaldo's voice was laced with venom, stinging the young man with every word. "What could have been so impor-" The man quickly pulled Ronaldo down so he could whisper in his ear. "I see…"

Turning to face the rest of the commercial crew, Ronaldo clapped his hands together. "Friends, I am going to have to ask that we try again tomorrow. It appears that something urgent has come up in the labs, and I am needed. I apologize greatly, and I promise to make it up to you all." Checking his abalone-dialed watch, he chimed in again. "It appears that the ferry just left, however, a new ferry should be here shortly. You may all show yourself out."

Making haste, Ronaldo moved for the surveillance room. Practically kicking down the door, he pushed aside the guard watching the cameras to look for someone. Someone he knew had begun to become a little too curious about things. He wanted to be in on Healthy Tomorrow's, he wanted to be supportive, then he should've been able to handle what he found out.

Coming to the ferry dock cameras, Ronaldo caught sight of his target. Not the young man it was with, but rather, the strange pokemon he was slowly comforting.

"Oh, Naoki...You can only hide with someone else's toys for so long."


End file.
